American metal veterans, W.A.S.P, and Finnish power metal outfit Stratovarius have confirmed that they will perform live in Bulgaria, at the Hristo Botev Hall on November 17 2009 and January 24 2010 respectively, a Loud Concerts Promotions press release has announced.

W.A.S.P have conformed they will arrive in Bulgaria as part of the promotional tour of their new album Babylon, which will be officially released in the UK and the US on October 12 2009. The band has performed on three previous occasions in Bulgaria; in 2004 they played in Sofia, a successful show which was succeeded by a 2006 gig in Kavarna and a 2008 show in Lovech.

The band will arrive with iconic founder Blackie Lawless, lead vocals and guitars, Doug Glair guitars, Mike Duda bass and Mike Dupke, drums. Loud Concert Promotions has announced that the first 200 tickets for the November 17 show will be sold for 30 leva, with all remaining tickets priced at 35 leva. On the day of the show, tickets will be sold at 45 leva.

The band emerged in 1982 from the same Los Angeles scene that spawned Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Quiet Riot and others. To date, Blackie Lawless remains the only member from the original line-up. The last studio release of the band was Dominator, which went on sale in April 2007.

There has been much speculation over the origin of the band's name, and if it stands for anything, since it is written as an acronym. In an interview in the 1980s, the band claimed it stood for "We Are Sexual Perverts" or "We Are Sexual Prophets" Alternatively, some fans believe the initials W.A.S.P. stand for "We Are So Perfect" or even "We Are So Powerful". Another possible abbreviation is "White Anglo-Saxon Protestants", but this is highly unlikely as Blackie Lawless' mother is a native American Indian.

Further speculation of "We Are Satan's People" or even "We Are Satan's Preachers" is also quite popular among some fans. However, when asked about the band's name, Lawless himself has avoided giving a straight answer; in one interview he answered "We ain't sure, pal".

Meanwhile Stratovarius are set to perform for the first time in Bulgaria. Currently, the Finnish power-symphonic metal band consists of Timo Kotipelto vocals, Matias Kupiainen guitars, Lauri Porra, bass , Jorg Michael drums, and Jens Johansson keyboards.

The band was founded 1984 in Finland under the name Black Water. The founding members were Tuomo Lassila, Staffan Strahlman, and John Vihervä, but in1985, the name was changed to Stratovarius. In 1985, Timo Tolkki joined the outfit, replacing Strahlman on guitar, as well as contributing to the singling and undertaking a substantial part of the song-writing process.

The band released a demo to various record companies by 1987 and was picked up by CBS Finland.

Due to rivalry and conflict of interests, however, the band went through some turbulent times and on March 4, 2008, Timo Tolkki officially announced the break-up of Stratovarius on his personal website. Internal tensions within the band were cited as the cause, saying that Lauri Porra and Jens Johansson were his only supporters, whereas Jorg Michael was more focused on his own session work, and Kotipelto desired to make his own project.

But in February 2009, Stratovarius announced the upcoming release of Polaris, which was not released until May 21 2009. Following the release, the band regrouped and commenced a tour in May 2009. The show in Bulgaria will be part of this reunion tour.